Grand Prix: The Killer Years is back on iPlayer for those who missed it first time, or want to see it again. Well worth a watch if you haven't seen it, really puts things into perspective. It also helps to explain F1 of the 60's and 70's to the "younger generation" (like myself) who weren't around at the time. Tells the story of the brave drivers who forced F1 to change for the better.
Just finished watching it. Watching David Purly trying to save Williamson at the end was chilling. Watching him realise nobody was going to help.
i learned that Champman was a cold bastard, and wondered how Dave Purley must've felt after that final clip, seeing a friend burning to death and being unable to do anything other than stand there watching it. Far too many needless deaths.
After watching it, i felt like giving purley a knighthood. Those marshalls should have been executed.
They weren't the marshals of today, they probably had no training to go with their no gear. Yes they probably could have done more, but without any sort of overalls they couldn't have got even remotely close to a fire burning off F1 standard fuel. Its horrific to watch, knowing that its a almost impossible situation these days.
I understand how you feel Cowboy; but the marshall's really weren't to blame. Although it is easy to say they might have helped try to push the car over with their bare hands in the midst of a raging fireball (still with the risk of explosion), it was really the whole system that was lacking, and the likelihood of managing it was extremely remote when asking people to risk their lives to help, exposing themselves to the very real risk of being maimed for life with severe burns without protective clothing. Furthermore, hearing the screams of a dying man is enough to make the ordinary person instinctively recoil in horror. From a practical viewpoint, there were not enough of them. They also had just one short-burst fire-extinguisher between them, (although I agree that the idiot who brought it was clearly in a daze as to what to do with it). Of course, they were unpaid volunteers; but most importantly, these were untrained volunteers trying to deal with a shocking situation they had never previously experienced. These were ordinary people experiencing a horror they were totally unprepared for; and the reality is that this is how the average person reacts. Although Purley was more familiar with the horror he faced, and his passionate efforts heroic in the extreme; the marshalls had no equipment and not the instinct to deal with it in the same way as Purley. As Sir Jackie Stewart bore witness too, it was the whole system that was at fault - time and time again. The marshalls were not to blame: it was the system which handed them an unreasonable responsibility; and worse still, accepted the mortality rate as part of the 'sport' to such an extent that it was completely expected that racing drivers would die. This is no excuse. It was simply a tragic reality.
Footage of the charred Lorenzo Bandini being hauled from his Ferrari at Monaco is one of the most disturbing bots of footage from the documentary I feel. Its even more amazing/nauseating when you realise the man is actually just about still alive at the time
It really is horrific stuff. It really makes you realize how far the sport has come in terms of safety... Thankfully!
What a man Jackie Stewart was... I never rated him that highly but watching that and doing some research made me think differently. Purley had extreme courage and bravery to do that and should be applauded gratefully for that.
bah they should learn how to keep the cars on the track, if i were to crash my car and injure/kill myself because i was speeding i doubt i would get much sympathy
Motor racing is one of the few true sports in the world, most of what else we refer to as sport is simply a game. I'm thankful for the safety advancements that Sir Jackie helped bring about, but I also feel that over the last 16 years we've also been very lucky not to have any fatalities. Let us not forget we went 12 years without a racing fatality before '94. I know others have voiced opinions over driver pay on here before but I feel that being comfortable with the large sums drivers are paid is a sign of respect over the all to real and proven dangers they face.
Its just unbelievable how they used to race! In relation todays drivers, they have far more prtoection and in alot of cases the run off arears are too safe and allow them to continue unaffected.
There was still a level of complacency that was about for a long time. I recently saw a clip of Elio de Angelis lifeless body being removed from what remained of his Brabham after a testing accident at the start of 1986. From the drivers recollections, it seems very simialr to Williamson's accident. An upturned car on fire, marhsalls not in safety gear and inadequate fire fighting equipment. 8 mins de angelis was in teh car for whilst it burnt. Amazingly he did not die from his burns, but from the inhalation of toxic smoke. Again a needless death that could have been avoided if the correct safety measures were in place. Lessons have been learnt all round, but complacency can slip in again and 1994 may yet return to remind everyone that F1 is ultimately a dangerous sport. Jackie Stewart was my nomination for greatest driver of all time. Both for his driving and his persistence in making sure F1 was a better sport for all.
Looking back I struggle to understand why we went and paid to spectate at such carnage, Jesus Christ, why did we do it. A driver died at the first race I ever attended, Brands 72, Jo Siffert, Race of Champions, the cost in human life over the previous era's was huge and that why I get angry at the likes of Turdoch and his ilk, simply using F1 to try and make make money. F1 and its fantastic, tragic and at the same time glorious history is much, much more than a simple bloody commodity to be used by bastards like him.
